While boilers aren’t commonly used for new homes in Minnesota, there are still plenty of houses in Minneapolis and Saint Paul that rely on boilers for heat.  I’m a big fan of boilers – so much so that I even wrote a blog about why I like them more than furnaces (boilers vs furnaces)

For Minneapolis homes that have boilers, the most common required repair for Truth-in-Housing Evaluations is a missing or improper backflow prevention device installed on the water line that feeds the boiler.  This repair also requires a permit.

The photos below show improper installations that would require repair. Click on the photos for a larger version.

Backflow preventers are needed on boilers to prevent the water that flows throughout the radiators from potentially mixing with the city’s potable water supply and contaminating it.

In Minnesota, the minimum type of backflow prevention device required for a boiler in a one or two-family home is a Double Check Valve with an Intermediate Atmospheric Vent(DCVIAV).  These are often referred to as “9D Valves” because Watts makes one of these valves, and their part number is 9D.  You know you have the market cornered when everyone calls the product by your part number, right?

Dual Check Valve with an Intermediate Atmospheric Vent

These valves are special because they’re almost 100% fail-safe.  Even if both of the internal check valves were to become fouled and stuck in an open position, the vent would still prevent any water that was subject to backpressure from potentially contaminating the potable water supply – this water would just leak out of the vent.

Because the vent has the possibility of leaking water, most plumbers will install a pipe off the vent to direct water to a location where it won’t cause damage.  This is also part of the installation instructions for these valves.

For anything other than a one or two-family home, Minnesota requires a Reduced Pressure Zone (RPZ) valve on the water supply for the boiler.  These are also required when any chemicals are added to the system, such as glycol.  RPZ valves must be tested every year, and must be re-built every four years.  When I inspect larger multi-family dwellings in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, I check the RPZ valves to make sure they have appropriate documentation showing that they’ve been properly serviced.

For a full list of the types of backflow prevention devices required in Minnesota, click here https://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/?id=4715.2110 .

For more information on common Truth In Sale of Housing defects, click on any of the links below.

• Smoke Detectors
• CO Alarms
• Vacuum Breakers (backflow preventers)
• Toilet Ballcocks
• Floor Drains
• Missing Jumper Wire

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Truth In Housing Minneapolis

One of the most common electrical defects that I find while doing Truth-In-Sale of Housing Evalutions in Minneapolis is a missing jumper wire at the water meter.  This is a required repair item, and I often find the repair done improperly, so I’m writing this blog to help anyone that has to fix this item.

To start, here is the wording that TISH Evaluators are supposed to follow, which comes directly from the Minneapolis TISH Evaluator Guidelines (2008):

A) There must always be a jumper wire installed around the water meter. Bonding jumpers shall be of copper or other corrosion-resistant material, have approved clamping devices and be of the correct wire gauge for the service installed. If this jumper wire is not present or is not properly connected on either side of the water meter, (or only the street side, when the water pipes are Pex or similar materials) or is not installed with approved materials, mark as RRE. Be specific on what work is needed

A jumper wire is used to electrically bond the water distribution pipes throughout the house.  The purpose of bonding the water distribution piping in the home is to make sure they can’t accidentally become energized.  If an ungrounded (aka – hot) conductor came in contact with a properly bonded water pipe, the current would have such a good path back to the main panel that it would overload the circuit breaker and the breaker would quickly trip.  In other words, it protects against electric shocks.

A much more important reason that Minneapolis requires a jumper wire at the water meter is that it was once acceptable for the electric service to use the water distribution piping in the house as a grounding conductor.  I couldn’t find any great diagrams that showed this type of installation, so I made my own crude diagram.  Don’t make fun of my drawing – I know I’m no artist or architect!

And here’s a photo of what this looks like.

The problem with this installation is that if the water piping gets disconnected, the electric panel is no longer grounded to the water piping.  That’s why this installation is no longer acceptable.  Many old homes in Minneapolis are still wired this way, so it’s especially important for the jumper wire to be present at these houses.

If there is any other break in the water distribution pipes (ie – plastic water piping, plastic water filter, water softener, etc), there needs to be a jumper installed.  For a blog specifically talking about this topic, check out Seattle Home Inspector Charles Buell’s blog on jumper wires.

The photos below show what a proper jumper wire should look like.   While some TISH evaluators require the bonding clamps to be placed on the outsides of the shutoff valves (vs right next to the meter), I don’t.  This might be the preferred method, but that’s all – it’s not a requirement.  As always, click the photos for a larger version.

For more information on common Truth In Sale of Housing defects, click on any of the links below.

• Smoke Detectors
• CO Alarms
• Vacuum Breakers (backflow preventers)
• Toilet Ballcocks
• Floor Drains

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Truth in Housing Evaluator

One of the most common defects that I find in old Minneapolis and Saint Paul houses is missing cleanout plugs in floor drains – especially during Truth In Sale of Housing Evaluations.  Missing cleanout plugs can allow hazardous sewer gas in to the home, and often indicate a clogged floor drain.   To learn why and how, read on.

Every plumbing fixture has a trap. The purpose of a trap is to prevent foul-smelling sewer gas from coming back in to the house.  The diagram at right shows a P-trap, which can be found at sinks, showers, and bath tubs.   The left side of the trap connects to the plumbing fixture, and the right side connects to the sewer.  The ‘sewer’ side will have sewer gases present, but the water sitting in the bottom of the trap prevents the sewer gases from entering in to the house.

Floor Drain

Floor drains are no exception. The photo at right shows a floor drain, as viewed from the side.  The shaded portion shows the trap where water will always sit, which prevents sewer gas from coming in.  When you look at an installed floor drain, all that you typically see is the grill on top; the rest of the drain is always buried in the basement floor.

When the drain line gets clogged If the drain line for the floor drain gets clogged, it needs to be cleaned out with a drain cleaning tool. The floor drain has an area which bypasses the trap, which will allow a tool to be inserted in to the drain.  I’ve highlighted this bypass in the photo below, left.   Normally, a plug is always in place here, because this is an area where sewer gases dwell.  When the plug is removed, sewer gases come in to the house.  After the drain gets cleaned out, the cleanout plug needs to be replaced.   The plug is circled in blue in the photo below, right.

What if the threads are destroyed? On some older floor drains, the threads that used to accept the cleanout plug are damaged or badly rusted, to the point that it’s impossible to screw in the cleanout plug.  The only acceptable repair for this situation is to install a rubber plug.  One type of plug is a piece of rubber that is sandwiched between two pieces of metal that expand the rubber when tightened together.  The two photos below show a rubber plug before it’s tightened and after it’s tightened.  Another type of rubber plug can be found here http://www.real-titeplugs.com/real-tite-plugs-uses.html .

A missing cleanout plug usually means one of two things:

1. The drain was clogged, someone removed the cleanout plug to clean the drain, and they forgot to put the plug back in.
2. The bottom of the trap is clogged, and someone removed the cleanout plug to allow water to drain directly in to the sewer, instead of going through the trap.

Any time I see a missing cleanout plug, I tell my client that the cleanout plug needs to be replaced, and the floor drain may need to be cleaned out or replaced.  If the drain cannot be cleaned, the entire floor drain needs to be replaced.  When I perform re-inspections on homes in Minneapolis that have had missing cleanout plugs, about one in five floor drains need to be replaced because the drain couldn’t be cleaned out.  This is an expensive repair, as it involves breaking up the concrete in the basement floor, replacing the drain, then pouring new concrete.

Just for fun, here are a few photos of missing cleanout plugs that I’ve taken within the past couple months.

For more information on common Truth In Sale of Housing defects, click on any of the links below.

• Missing Jumper Wire
• CO Alarms
• Vacuum Breakers (backflow preventers)
• Toilet Ballcocks
• Smoke Detectors

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections – Email - Minnesota Home Inspections

This is a very common defect, and the repair usually only takes a few seconds.  The diagrams below show what the two most common ball cocks should look like when properly installed, and the video below shows how to adjust a ballcock made by Fluidmaster, which is the most common one used today.  Click the diagrams for larger images.

For more information on common Truth In Sale of Housing defects, click on any of the links below.

• Smoke Detectors
• CO Alarms
• Vacuum Breakers (backflow preventers)
• Missing Jumper Wire
• Floor Drains

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections – Email - Minneapolis Toilet Inspections

Everyone knows that smoke detectors save lives, and most people know you’re supposed to test them regularly and change the batteries every so often, but there’s more to smoke detector safety than just these items.  Smoke detectors should be located throughout the home, properly installed, and replaced every so often.

Locations: The Minnesota State Building Code requires smoke detectors in every bedroom, in the hallways outside the bedrooms, and at least one on every level of the home.  I’d guess that about 50% of the homes that I do Truth-in-Housing Evaluations on in Minneapolis and Saint Paul have working smoke detectors on each level, and maybe 10% have working smoke detectors in each bedroom.  There is a lot of room for improvement in these cities.

Installation: Smoke detectors need to be installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations to operate properly.   This typically means that if a smoke detector is installed on the ceiling, it should be at least 4” away from any wall.  If a smoke detector is installed on a wall, it should be 4” to 12” down from the ceiling – no more, no less.  The diagram at the right helps illustrate this.  This is required so the smoke will reach the detector and set it off in a timely manner.  How important is this?  Watch the video below to get an idea.  The best place to put a smoke detector is on the ceiling in the middle of the room.

Replacement: Smoke detectors should be replaced according to the manufacturer’s requirements.  Typically, this is about once every 10 years.  You can usually find the replacement date on the back of your smoke detector.  The photo below is from the back of a smoke detector which was manufactured in 2007.

Testing: Test the smoke detector using the built-in test button.  This is the preferred method, and will accurately test the unit’s operation as required by Underwriter Laboratories.  Again, follow manufacturer’s requirements for how often to test – the smoke detectors I have in my house are supposed to be tested weekly.

Batteries: Smoke detector batteries should last at least a year.  There’s nothing wrong with replacing the batteries annually, but you can also wait until the low battery indicator starts going off – this usually consists of an annoying chirp every 30–60 seconds.

Hardwired Detectors: Unless you live in Saint Paul, this isn’t required in older buildings.  Saint Paul requires at least one hardwired smoke detector near the sleeping areas on all existing homes, even on old homes that didn’t require this at the time of construction.  For the rest of Minnesota, if remodeling occurs, smoke detectors need to be hardwired and interconnected if there is access to wiring.  If there is no access to the wiring, battery operated smoke detectors are acceptable.

The following link has more specific information on Minnesota Smoke Detector Requirements.

For more information on common Truth In Sale of Housing defects, click on any of the links below.

• Missing Jumper Wire
• CO Alarms
• Vacuum Breakers (backflow preventers)
• Toilet Ballcocks
• Floor Drains

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections – Email – Minneapolis Home Inspections

Carbon monoxide alarms have been required in new homes in Minnesota since January 2007, and have been required in existing single family homes since August 1st, 2008.  CO alarms need to be installed within ten feet of every room lawfully used for sleeping purposes.  “Installed” means hardwired, plugged in to an outlet, or attached to the wall if battery operated.

Because the requirement for CO alarms is a Minnesota Statute (not a rule), the requirements for CO alarms will not be enforced by building officials – although some may choose to enforce them anyway.

The cities of Minneapolis and South Saint Paul enforce the requirement for CO alarms through their Truth-in-Housing programs.  The cities of Saint Paul and Maplewood require evaluators to list missing CO alarms as a hazard, but homeowners do not need to fix this hazard.

To keep current with today’s requirements and to keep your home safe, I recommend upgrading to today’s standards.   I have hardwired, interconnected smoke detectors throughout my home, so I replaced two of the hardwired smoke detectors with combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.  Of all the ways to install a carbon monoxide alarm, this is the most difficult, but it only takes about 15 minutes.

The full requirements for carbon monoxide alarms can be found at Minnesota Statute 299F.50

For more information on common Truth In Sale of Housing defects, click on any of the links below.

• Missing Jumper Wire
• Floor Drains
• Vacuum Breakers (backflow preventers)
• Toilet Ballcocks
• Smoke Detectors

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections – Email – Minneapolis Home Inspections

Vacuum Breaker

This is one of the most common questions I get from homeowners that I do Truth-in-Housing Evaluations for.  If you’re selling your home in Minneapolis or Bloomington, you will likely hear about this.  A vacuum breaker, commonly referred to as a backflow preventer, is a device that prevents the potable water in your home, and possibly even your neighborhood, from getting contaminated.

How could your water get contaminated? Picture this scenario: I want to mix up some vegetation killer, so I buy the concentrated stuff, pour it in to a bucket, then put the garden hose in the bucket to fill it.  I turn the water on, but I get sidetracked with a plumbing project.  I shut off the water to my house, and then open up the laundry faucet to drain the water out of the pipes.  This will create a siphoning effect, which could actually suck the nasty chemicals in the garden sprayer back in to my home, contaminating the potable water.  An even worse scenario would be the city doing work on the water pipes, and the chemical gets siphoned back in to the city’s water supply, contaminating a whole neighborhood!

While these occurrences are not likely, it has happened many times throughout the country, and the cost to fix a contaminated water supply for a city is huge. The cost of a vacuum breaker is very small – about five dollars.  While only Minneapolis and Bloomington enforce vacuum breakers, they’re still required throughout Minnesota by the Minnesota State Plumbing Code, section 4715.2100 (D).

The two most common places where these are installed are at sillcocks (what you connect your garden hose to) and at laundry sink faucets.  An external vacuum breaker is required at sillcocks if they don’t already have one built in.  How do you know the difference?  The photos below show one sillcock with, and one without an integral vacuum breaker.  If a sillcock doesn’t have the little mushroom cap, an external vacuum breaker is required.  At laundry sink faucets, a vacuum breaker is needed if there are threads present that a garden hose could attach to.

For more information on common Truth In Sale of Housing defects, click on any of the links below.

• Smoke Detectors
• CO Alarms
• Grounding Clamps
• Toilet Ballcocks
• Floor Drains

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Truth in Housing Evaluator